 Network meta-analysis

A network meta-analysis jointly compares several treatments using a graph of direct Randomized controlled trials and indirect treatment comparisons. If effects are measured relative to a reference treatment, consistency means ${\delta }_{ij}={\delta }_{i0}-{\delta }_{j0}$. A connected graph identifies all relative effects under that model. Transitivity in network meta-analysis is the substantive comparability assumption supporting these relations; inconsistency can be assessed when the network has loops.